Volleyball

Just in case my backpack was starting to feel too comfy after all those trips, it was time to fly yet again. This time it was for the Middle school girls' volleyball tournament in Helsinki, Finland.

Last year the tournament was in Sofia, Bulgaria and required a long early morning journey. Helsinki, which is nearly straight north, was a short 45 minute flight!

Last year was also my first year coaching. It was certainly a learning experience for me and if I, honest, I wasn't thrilled about coaching again. Ieva agreed to coach again also and we divided up the commitment, making it a bit easier to come back. I was pleasantly surprised at the first practice when all the girls were ready (on time) and eager to get practice volleyball (as opposed to their flirting skills). Don't get me wrong, I get it, it's middle school and we had the girls and boys practicing together (small school struggles). But after spending all day with my kiddos that after school hour is precious time, and giving it up to a group that didn't care wasn't easy. But this year, it was totally different!

There was a solid group of 8th graders that traveled last year and returned again to lead the team. We had 14 girls sign up to travel but only 10 spots available. After a bit of drama over who made the cut and wanted to come, we had our team of 10- the six 8th graders and four 7th graders.

The team with
encouragement notes

These tournaments are really the only time the girls play a real game. We don't have local teams to compete against. At the same time, these tournaments are awesome! From a coaching standpoint, you do get to see the growth the girls go through individually and as a team. But it's also a great chance for the girls to meet and make friends with others and to see a new school/city/culture. And as a coach I get to live it up in a hotel for the weekend!

The tournament started on Friday, but due to space (more small school problems) our group had the city tour first. We ventured downtown for a bit and stopped for many photo ops - again, middle school girls. The tour included a nice little market along a harbor, where most girls filled up on waffles and chocolate. Then the tour ended with a stop at Starbucks. Starbucks is well known, but most girls were coming from places that don't have a Starbucks, like Riga.

You can see Ieva and I in the background
of this picture.... it perfectly captured us

Our games began after lunch and we faced the two toughest teams first. The girls came out strong and surprised the teams! We ended up losing both games but only by a small margin. And I felt it was a win because despite our loss, the girls stayed positive and into it- a huge improvement from last year.

Since the tournament was in May and it's now almost August, I have forgotten a lot of owe little details like scores and if we played three games on Friday or only two. But I do remember that the girls worked together in every game and, similar to last year, squeaked their way into a playoff game. This time it was for third place.

We won the first set by just a few points. Then started the second set with all the 8th graders out. Despite a lead, the other team came back and, by just a few points, took set two. By this time everyone was nervous and excited and the little gym was packed. Ieva and I couldn't help but laugh. we showed them the rotation and the rest was up to them. With a score of 13 to 15 we lost the final set and took fourth overall in the tournament.

They were of course bummed to have been so close to third place but I do believe most of them didn't come for the competition, they came for the chance to make friends and take more selfies than you could imagine. I'm surprised snapchat didn't break. We also got the sportsmanship award again. Which, although I wasn't excited about the giant trophy, is a nice award to receive.